The White House today said no agreements were reached between Presidents Carter and Anwar Sadat on Middle East issues during their first meeting which lasted more than an hour-and-a-half. The session was devoted primarily to the “core” problems of peace, territorial considerations and the Palestinian question, Presidential News Secretary Jody Powell said.
Asked whether there were divergences between the two leaders on the Palestinian issue, Powell said there was no attempt to reach an agreement. “There were differences of view on almost every…” Powell began to say. Then he changed his thought and said “The U.S. doesn’t share all the views” of either the Egyptian or the Israeli government.
Powell said that bilateral matters such as Egypt’s reported requests for arms and economic support in the billions of dollars were not taken up at this first meeting and indicated they might be discussed at the working dinner tonight at the White House or at the meeting between the two Presidents tomorrow. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance told reporters after he had lunch with Sadat at the State Department that some bilateral matters were discussed but not arms.
Powell said that both Sadat and Carter expressed confidence that their “personal lies of trust and confidence” would contribute to the peace movement. He emphasized that the meeting this morning was “exploratory.” Powell said he did not know the answer when he was asked whether Sadat’s statement, that a Palestinian entity should be linked with Jordan, was discussed.
The questioning on the Palestine Liberation Organization was related to Sadat’s statement earlier today that Carter in his “public pronouncements in recent weeks” had come “very close to the proper remedy” on the Palestinian problem. Sadat did not elaborate, but he was apparently referring to the President’s statement in Clinton, Mass. on the need for a homeland for the Palestinians. Powell said he did not know if Sadat asked for U.S. recognition of the PLO.
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